# That Unusual Brown Ash? May have found the cause.



## GlassEye (Oct 25, 2009)

I have seen a couple threads on brown ash and why, with answers from Band-Aids of the rollers to soil. I have always thought the soil was the cause of this, (it may be in some cases) but I did a little experimentinng and was able to stripe the ash with alternating brown/white stripes for half of a CAO Brazilia. 

I found that very windy conditions will cause the ash to be a light brown versus the white that would normally occur. I had a La Aurora a few weeks back in heavy winds that produced brown ash that I thought was just the soil or something and thought nothing more. This little test made me think that was not the case. To stripe the ash I started the cigar outside in 15-20 mph winds, after about one inch I took my cigar into a porch away from the wind. After another one inch I noticed something I have never seen, alternating colors on the ash! I was curious at this point so I took my cigar back outside to the wind for a while which started the brown ash again. I then went back inside the porch and the white ash started up again.

This was an interesting cigar experience for me, which I will try again sometime soon. I encourage you to try the same and see what happens for you. I would like to hear the results of that if you do.anda: 

I had a picture of the ash but its on my phone and I don't feel like uploading it right now.


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## redbeerd (May 4, 2010)

never payed any attention to it like that.


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## Nickerson (Mar 19, 2009)

Maybe the extra air flow is causing it to burn cooler or hotter which may alter the color of the ash. My father had asked me about this a month or so ago and I made a post about it (the post where sum1 said probably a factory rollers band-aid, haha, ew).

We need a cigar version of Myth Busters. Get on it Jon!


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## youngstogiesmoker (Feb 14, 2010)

hmm now this is pretty interesting. I've noticed that the smoke turns the ash a shade of brown or darker grey as it pours through part of the ash leaving behind some of the tars and I always just thought that was the cause....

Now I'm thinking that when your inside with no wind, the smokes tends to continue through the top of the ash...but when you're out in the wind, the smoke is pushed through the sides, contributing to the brownness....

Maybe something added on to the experiment????


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## GlassEye (Oct 25, 2009)

youngstogiesmoker said:


> hmm now this is pretty interesting. I've noticed that the smoke turns the ash a shade of brown or darker grey as it pours through part of the ash leaving behind some of the tars and I always just thought that was the cause....
> 
> Now I'm thinking that when your inside with no wind, the smokes tends to continue through the top of the ash...but when you're out in the wind, the smoke is pushed through the sides, contributing to the brownness....
> 
> Maybe something added on to the experiment????


That sounds like a possible cause. I didn't think about the smoke being a large factor.


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## youngstogiesmoker (Feb 14, 2010)

GlassEye said:


> That sounds like a possible cause. I didn't think about the smoke being a large factor.


I didn't either til I read a thread about this a few weeks back and someone said that if you dont beleive there is tar in a cigar then take a big draw and blow through a paper towel and see how much residue is left. It works kinda the same way on a cigar's ash I assume.


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## john51277 (Feb 27, 2007)

I used to smoke mine in front of a fan and always got the ever ellusive "brown ash" but now I wipe very well and have no issues with brown ash.


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## GlassEye (Oct 25, 2009)

youngstogiesmoker said:


> I didn't either til I read a thread about this a few weeks back and someone said that if you dont beleive there is tar in a cigar then take a big draw and blow through a paper towel and see how much residue is left. It works kinda the same way on a cigar's ash I assume.


That makes sense, I have heard about blowing through a paper towel but I don't want to try it. "Ignorance is bliss" as is the saying. I have seen how much tar is in my buddys' cigarette butts, I wouldn't want to know how much would be in a cigar.


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## youngstogiesmoker (Feb 14, 2010)

GlassEye said:


> That makes sense, I have heard about blowing through a paper towel but I don't want to try it. "Ignorance is bliss" as is the saying. I have seen how much tar is in my buddys' cigarette butts, I wouldn't want to know how much would be in a cigar.


hahaha me too brother, me too


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## Nickerson (Mar 19, 2009)

The following is copy/pasted from a cigar website. I would post link but they sell the forbidden fruit.

Good information on white/grey/black ash, and how the minerals in the soil where it is grown effects the ashes color. As well as some other information as well.

__________________________________________________

*What the ash can tell about*

There's a lot that Cigar ash can tell you about the cigar's origin, much more than you could ever expect! That's why it is of a high importance for professional tasters and experienced smokers, as well as cigar taste and aroma. Actually ash is just a mineral, an inorganic compound that remains as a result of tobacco leaves burning. All tobacco leaf contents able to give off taste and flavor while burning are turned into volatile compounds, which we can sense through our olfactory receptors and taste buds. All other compounds that do not have these astonishing qualities turn into ash.






 I decided to carry out an experiment on my own. I lit a cigar and spent half an hour enjoying its amazing taste and aroma. Thirty wonderful minutes have passed; I drank some of cognac, put on my glasses and proceeded to studying the ash, that had become an impressive length over the half hour.
Sooner or later the ash should fall off. It is considered that this should happen only after the ash reaches at least an inch length - an absolute minimum length for ash on the cigar. The ash shouldn't fall earlier, of course if provided that smoker doesn�t make jerky hand movements. If it falls before reaching the minimal length, there is just one conclusion: this is not a good quality cigar.
The the tobacco leaves quality and the degree of care the cigar was rolled with influence the 'solidity' of the ash length. The ash on mechanically rolled cigars is very unstable, whereas hand-rolled cigars have rather stable and firm ash. Besides that, leaves and roller's attitude are very important also. You'll hardly be able to enjoy a fine, neat length of ash if cigar was rolled from too short or torn leaves, or if the roller didn't make the cigar firm enough and left gaps between the leaves. If your cigar ash edges and surface are uneven and it gradually crumbles round the edges, it means that unfortunately this is the case!






 Thus, if your cigar was made of long, quality leaves, it should have stable column of ash that can reach one-inch length on condition that you make only easy hand movements.
Provided that the roller has been working scrupulously and doing his job duly, the ash on a cigar should be firm, its edges should be even and neat, it should not scatter from an easy movement or a gentle breeze, and should not crumble throughout the period of the smoke.
After a careful study of the ash length I took another sip of cognac, took off my glasses, tasted the flavored smoke, and put the cigar in the ashtray in order to wait till the ash fell off in itself. It fell off rather quickly, revealing the hot point of the cigar with a thin layer of ash. It was time to return to studying its mysterious characteristics.
Besides the ash texture, it is also important that shape of the burning end of the cigar is exposed after the ash has fallen off. If you are smoking for a long period, the burning end can take the most various forms from a small hollow in the middle with harshly bevelled edges to an absolutely level burning surface. But it is considered that the perfect shape of the burning end is a cone.






 Why a cone? It is connected with the structure of the cigar. The roller starts making a cigar with a leaf known as ligero. This leaf lying in the very center of the cigar gives all the taste. The ligero leaf is gathered from the very top of the tobacco plant, and it contains the greatest amount of nicotine, sugar and complex gustatory compounds. Therefore no wonder that it burns longer than the other tobacco leaves used to make up a cigar. And the burning end of the cigar has a conical form exactly because this leaf takes the longest time to burn.
The percentage of ligero leaves varies depending on the tobacco blend for every cigar. As a result, the cones can have either sharp or blunt shape. But no matter what they are, conical shape for the burning end of a cigar with a thin layer of ash is the ideal one.
Of course, this shape depends not only on cigar quality, but also on the way it is smoked. You need to smoke lightly and inhale evenly and smoothly.
Thus a conical form of the cigar's burning end with a thin ash layer on it means that it was rolled in accordance with all the requirements, and moreover, it was smoked with as much mastery as the roller put into making it.
The most important test for a cigar is the ash color. It isn't related with the leaves quality or the roller's skill. The main factor that influences the color of the ash is the land on which the tobacco was grown.






 Soil is rich with chemical compounds and a variety of mineral deposits, which are carried into plants by moisture. The soil in different regions is distinguished by its own characteristics: different minerals predominate in different places. Hence the same plant will have essentially different chemical and mineral contents in different areas. For instance, cigars rolled from tobacco grown in the central regions of Cuba (Remedios) produce almost white ash; cigars made of tobacco from the Vuelta Abajo produce gray ash with white veins. Take into consideration that the two areas are adjacent to each other. The difference takes place because the soil in the Vuelta Abajo is full of various minerals in roughly equal amounts, while the soil in the Remedios Region is characterized by potassium predomination.
The connection between the chemical contents of the soil and the quality of the cigar made of tobacco grown in it has been scientifically proved. Moreover, in early 2001 one of the scientists from a Canadian consumer organization proposed to make tests on the chemical components in order to protect genuine Cuban cigars from fakes. His idea was that cigars labeled as Cuban, but whose chemical contents proved to be different from the chemical contents of the appropriate region of Cuba, should be removed from the shops right away.
Thus the predominance of gray and white in the cigar ash testifies that it is of good quality. Pure white ash may be considered as a mark of quality, proving that the cigar is from certain places like Cuba or the Dominican Republic, where there are plantations that are particularly full of potassium. Black ash is a bad sign. Leaves that after burning produce black ash are poor in minerals and produce a very unpleasant taste and smell.
When the ash falls off, there remains a evident change in the cigar taste. The matter is that the ash is very important in the actual process of smoking. While it gradually appears on the cigar, the ash cools the smoke and makes the process of smoking much milder. That's why when the ash falls off a cigar, the smoker feels that it has become stronger and hotter. Therefore the ash can be not only nice in appearance and useful in finding out more information about the cigar, it also has a use from the practical standpoint.
Actually it is not just a pleasant event when cigar ash falls suddenly on clothes, on the table or on the floor. As a result, cigar ash had a significant influence on European fashion previously - it was cigar ash that peculiarly led to the creation of the smoking jacket. Benjamin Disraeli, British prime minister (1804-1881), loved cigars. He smoked them everywhere: in the street, at home, at important meetings and even in the library after dinner. Thus it wasn't surprising that every day his clothes were sheeted with cigar ash. In order to save his clothes from being ruined, Mr. Disraeli got his tailor to sew him a jacket with satin lapels. It was easy to brush the ash off this smooth material, and moreover ash leaves no traces on satin. Disraeli's tailor did the job so skillfully that jackets with satin lapels (smoking jackets) became soon the height of fashion.


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## seyer0686 (Aug 23, 2008)

Interesting theory. Makes sense that the one time I got this I was in the middle of the Indian ocean with 45mph winds blowing.


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